Original Spider-Man Star Teases No Way Home Return As Audience Member

By Timothy Adams

One of the stars of Sony Pictures' original Spider-Man trilogy jokes that they've already bought tickets to see Spider-Man: No Way Home in theaters. Elizabeth Banks played the Daily Bugle secretary Betty Brant in all three of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films. While she mostly acted alongside J.K. Simmons' J. Jonah Jameson, Betty and Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker managed to have some flirtatious scenes together, even though Peter ended up dating Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). While there has been speculation on many of the former Spider-Man actors appearing in No Way Home, it seems Banks will be sitting with the fans in the audience to see how the film plays out.

"Me with my tickets to #SpiderManNoWayHome already like #tbt," Banks wrote on Twitter with a throwback picture of herself as Betty Brant. In the image, she's holding up a piece of paper that is supposed to represent a movie ticket stub. The reaction from Banks' social media feed shows the level of excitement fans have over Spider-Man: No Way Home, while also appreciating her depiction of the Marvel characters almost a decade ago.

Many fans may not know this, but Elizabeth Banks originally auditioned for the role of Mary Jane, which wound up going to Kirsten Dunst. In an unfortunate turn of events, Banks was told she was too old to play Mary Jane. "I was told I was too old to play her," Banks told Vanity Fair in 2017. At the time she was 28 when she auditioned, and Spider-Man actor Tobey Maguire was only a year younger. "Tobey and I are basically the same age," she added, but quickly came to understand how Hollywood works. "I was like, 'Oh, O.K., that's what I've signed up for.'"

Banks later went into more detail on a conversation she had with the Spider-Man producers. "I auditioned to play Mary Jane Watson and [producer] Laura Ziskin said 'She's too old.' It's fine. I'm a lot older than Kirsten Dunst, so I get it," Banks said. "I'm not much older than Tobey, but. . . . But I got it back then. And I was a nobody. I had no expectations of even being in that movie. The casting director called and said, 'As a consolation prize essentially do you want to be Betty Brant?' So it started out as a consolation prize and it's become a favor."

The Spider-Man: No Way Home gag isn't the only time Banks has trolled fans. She joined in on the fun when it came time to make jokes about one of Venom's first trailers, with a visceral reaction to the character's elongated tongue: "Looks like he's eating a d***."

Who's ready to share a bucket of popcorn with Elizabeth Banks while watching Spider-Man: No Way Home on December 17th? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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